That sucks. I’ve had combats where I charged a group of enemies and it just kind of “bounced” off, not initiating combat. When that happened I usually had to move around a bit, and charge at them from another angle to get it to begin combat. You’ve probably already tried that.
You could also try using some skills prior to combat. Try the rogue’s sneak ability. That interacts directly with how combat is initiated, so it might trigger something new and resolve the issue. Finally, if you haven’t already, try backtracking to the nearest area transition, the ones that force you to wait while the area loads. “Zone” out, then back into the area with Mangar, and it could reset the encounter properly. I know it sucks, but it’s still better than starting all over again. The area should remain empty (except for Mangar obviously) when you zone back in.
Yeah, I think sneaking got me into the problem. I got to Mangar before I was ready, so when he first appeared, I sneaked away. Many, many hours later, I returned and now I can dance all around him without combat being initiated. I tried sneaking at first, until I figured out that this was a bug. I’m pretty sure I warped out and back in again, but I’ll try that.
I haven’t touched it in months, thinking that they might want to see a save or log file or something. I just got a friendly reply saying “I’ll pass this along to the team. Thanks!” Which is where a programmer will undoubtedly shrug and move on to the next thing on his bug list.
Also, it’s full of both combat (mostly full groups of strong cultists) and puzzles, So…Many…Puzzles. The puzzles are a mix of every kind previously encountered, only with twists like being on a much larger scale, or being controlled by “remote” consoles, or just combining multiple types to create something even more intricate.
It may take me multiple shorter play sessions to complete. It looks amazing though…really impressive, the way you would expect a long forgotten, deeply buried and heavily protected entrance to a rift in time and space would look. ;-)
Kickstarter Update about 2.0 Director’s Cut today (thank heaven’s for the Song of Exploration, because I simply loathe puzzles, that alone will probably get me to try the game):
A new dungeon and story line featuring new enemy types
New items (master-crafted gear and Dwarven Weapons)
Inventory filtering
Expanded balancing efforts across the entire game (combat, economy, abilities, etc.) based on player feedback and our own testing
A new Song of Exploration allowing you to bypass puzzles if those aren't your jam
Additional character portraits
A new intro animatic
Expanded work on improving localization
Updated game engine
Improved performance and stability
Improved level art
Reworked main menu
Numerous bug fixes
I received a Kickstarter update today, Project Update #55: The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep by inXile entertainment.
Under the heading A New Journey for inXile it reads: As many of you know, we were recently acquired by Microsoft, which is a great boon as we plan out future titles and has the added benefit of providing opportunities to improve our current and in-development game titles, including The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep. We are very happy to be part of this new federation of Microsoft studios. As creators and game developers, we look forward to leveraging and utilizing the many tools, features, and services that Microsoft can offer.
I’m OK with Microsoft buying/partnering with smaller studios as long as they stay mostly hands-off this time. Let their deep-pockets pay for longer development times that result in games designed by people who know games, and those same games will both play and sell far better than they would have otherwise.
I’ve never played a Bard’s Tale game surprisingly. Is there something about the bard class that makes it a must play for a first time player, or is it just a matter of preference? For some reason I tend to make my first character a fighter in most RPGs.
I am really looking forward to this next huge patch. Rob, a “bard” is not essential, I actually went mage with my main and had a great time with it to about 1/3 through. There are mercenaries to hire, and NPCs. I don’t even think bard’s are essential … (I may be wrong).
Bard’s are done up pretty nice in this game though. They aren’t the lukewarm class of other games but have some very nice abilities. I liked this game a lot last summer but kinda got puzzled out. The combat and exploration is great though. This is what they apparently are getting ready to adjust.
A HUGE upgrade patch is coming in early June. Let me check on it and if I can figure out how to link I will do it. One thing the patch changes is that there is a new ability to bypass puzzles. Frankly, I really liked a lot of the puzzles they are generally well done but there are a LOT of them. Yes, it is mentioned above as a “Director’s Cut.”
I am waiting a few weeks. Just seems like such a huge drop path.
But let me say I really loved this game’s atmosphere and combat … such an odd combination and it went very well. Day one I will be playing with the new master director’s cut super master patch!
What a mouthful “New Master’s Director’s Cut Super Master Patch! ™”. I started this game once, liked what I saw, and then got sidetracked with something else and it was forgotten. Thanks for the update! I will have to give this another shot in June.
Do I really need to go back to a save pillar to save to quit the game, or will it save on quitting anywhere. I do have save anywhere turned off because I find it a bit fun deciding when to consume the save pillar for XP, but I wish I could just quit anywhere.
Playing on hard and it isn’t too bad. I’ve died 2 or three times. I’m at level 6.
I don’t mind the limit of saving at the stones…except when I’m trying to quit. It means I need to plan ahead to stop playing, or leave it running like I’ve been doing.
